Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-05-20

those of that future, which viii be another
present when we all have passed away, wemay
have day Of talk aud parade, but IL will be a
barren day, thing human ifeis too precious
to afford.
Fellow citizens, there are many Of us who re-
member when a war was raging in this land. IL
was n terrible conflict IL tore families asun-
der, and arrayed brothers In hostility II
snapped the cord which had held states togeth (.
or for more than half u century. IL plougneu
the land as II It would tear up every root which
could ever produce flowers or fruits. But all
things that begin must end. That storm of war
was at last exhausted, but after the winds
ceased blowing, the waves for season kept
rolling, and even now there Is slight move
ment ON the surface. SO great Is the force OF
habit that we occasionally hear the phrase "the
late war; Now, fellow citizens, let us think a
little. There has been no late war, IN TINS
country. Have you heard OF any battle In the
last twenty yearsY have not, The latest llr-
ing heard was in the noble old state OF North
Carolina, which did not come into the Union
until months after George Washington inaug-
uration as President, and being last to go out
when the break came and the first TO come
back at the last. Yes, heard those final brings
of the war, and all the male children who were
born that day IN Carolina and Kentucky had
The right to vote ut the late Presidential ana
Gubernatorial elections. Now, ask whether,
in view of that single fact we Older men nj
least should not drop the misleading phrase
"the late war" THERE mas BEES no LATE
WAR. Since hostilities ceased nearly quarter
ola century has elapsed. Two-thlrds OF the
time allotted 10 II human generation surely
should be sufficient to buildmens fortunes from
the foundation, and TO rebuild fortunes that had
been cut down. Have not the best things men
have done been accomplished In twenty years.
The men North and South, who have not been
able TO reconstruct their affairs into reas-
enable form Of prosperity-wou they be able
to do 80 II they had centul1esf Let us, then,
cease from all unavailing regrets for the irfey-
ocable past, and address ourselves maniully
to the practical present and the possible future.
One Of the most fruitful sources of human UNI
happiness is found In our failure to adjust our.
selves to the Inevitable and irreversible laws OF
the universe. Sometimes this Is done from
want OF will, and sometimes from want OF
thought. Has not time enough elapsed to allow
MS to think without passion on what the sdomi-
nant causes of the war were, and what VIII H.
nally be the outc0meY | think we may, espcc-
Tally here on this border ground; and more
especially here beside the quiet dead, whose
memory we can never let die. Characterization
for their heroism, our tenderness for theirmem-
ory VIII all be increased by such study.
And all the more may we do this because the
monument we unveil to-day has been erected
10 the UNKNOWN CONFEDERATE DEAD. II II
were to q single Confederate dead hero-Sir
Stonewall Jackson, to Sir Albert sydney john
ston, or TO that other, the greatest American
since Washington, that man who, amid reverses,
outgrew all titles Of honor invented In Church
anu state, that man Of whom the muse OF his
tory now thinks, and will hereafter speak, as
simply ROBERT 4. LEE-if 1t were TO any one of
these this monument we unveiled to-day, the
greatness OF the individual might draw our at
IGNITION from the cause he represented to him-
self, as some bright particular star draws our
eyes 20 Its own brilliancy and away from the
great cNpanse In which It moves and shines.
We are submitted 10 the power OF no such
abstraction to-day. The men to whose glory
this column Is to stand are men whose names
are 50 lost in the cause they represent that not
only have they no such tombstone distinction
as Is enjoyed by those who lie where the rude
foreiathers of their hamlet sleep, but are men
Of whom all trace Is lost, even the initials OF
their names.
It has been suggested that 1t y appropriate
70 have an address ON this occasion nom the
Pastor OF the Church of the Strangers Here
are the bodies OF more than one hundred men.
These men were strangers in this place; not
one 81 them when alive was known to single
inhaDitant OF HOpkinsrille, and not one of them
when dead could be designated by any mark
that should distinguish him from any of his
coItIAdes. Strangers 20 ono another, coming
iium different states, and many OF them from
inherent denominations OF Christians, united
only by their ardent love for a common cause
ana by their rest at last in common grave, II
Is meet ana right that the Pastor of the Church
Of the Strangers shOnld speak word for his
poor, mute paTishioners whom even the bap-
usm OF blood has left unnamed.
II Is an unnatural thing for man TO die Of
violence away from home, and where strangers
give grave 10 eyes that had no friendly hand
10 draw down those curtains that shall rise no
more upon the sights Of land or sea or sky. IL
Is most unnatural thing when multitudcs OF
men 80 perish.
What led to the war that swept the men OF
lcaycsy
win the final outcome OF the conflict repay
Let US calmly consider these two questions.
Lifting ourselves for little season away from
our own land and our own times, we may sec
that through the history OF our race there runs
apurpose which is worked upon plan. Only
dinly In the ages have the poets, the secrs, the
prophets detected either plan or purpose. But
Now ''wc doubt not lhro the ages one increas-
ing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the
the process Of the suns"
Ii was the failure to detect that divine pur- |
pose, that sublime plan which for centuries al |
lowed the vast energies of our humanity to be |
expended along narrow lines and in small fields. |
II was this Ignorance which allowed even great |
souis-sOuls grown too great for personal self |
lshness-t0 nnd relief in what they believed to |
be unselilshness, namely, In national and ecclc-
sastical selfshness. Thus IL has come 10 pass
that many aman whose heart was a fountain
sending forth stream too ample TO be con-
tanned in the little pond Of his own personal |
selishness, has found larger outlet and a larger
lake IN the sickly sectaiianism Of conflicting |
churches and the pinchcd patriotism of nations
al animosities II was on account Of this that, |
from the times OF our old Hebrew and HOmeric
predecessors down to our own times the face
ofOug planet has been striped
"With the standards ofthe people plungng
through the thunderstorm"
1t was in the midst of this debasing process
II brute 10 savage and from a savage to a saint,
man had sunk to his lowest point and had con-
cluded the demonstration Of the survival Of the
most possible uniittest, that the world saw In
human shape one who claimed to be the Prince |
Of Peace, one who taught that jew should love
samaritan, and Cafthhgenian should love Ro-
man, aud every patriot should love his nation
~ enemy. The world Of Ills time could not know
Him. lie has not world product. lie came
by no evolution. But never since lie came has
tne world ceased TO feel Him. Science and
philosophy examining Him by eighteen century
tests, now unite In declaring Him the result Of
extra human processes. And yet, even after
Ills advent, the din Of war has gone on until,
In this nineteenth century, the spirit OF that
young dallllean preacher martyr brood
Ing over the peoples, began 10 make them have
q aim perception of what at last looked like u
heavenly picture to the eyes OF poet OF our own
DAY who gazed and listened
It'll the war-drums throbbed no longer
And the battle -1aga were furled
In the Parliament OF Man,
The Confederation OF the world"
This isnot the dream OF slckly sentimental
ist II Is the vision seen only when a man Is
beating his most healthy soul-pulses. Il is the
goal TO which every army corps OF humanity Is
tending march how 1t Will, with lightest steps
between many shorter or longer halt.
"Tbe Confederation OF the world.r why,
fellow citizens those i've words sketch the ever
lasting plan Of the Infinite Architect for build
~ hich lie means 10 stand out ON inllnity and
the cycles OF eternity, and which
lie means To inhabit because lie Is too great a
tod 10 dwell In temples made with hands and |
even God must have some home.
Now, fellow citizens, we begin TO see that for
the great INSTRUMENTATION there must be
studies. There were none before
American history opened, II you do not count a |
single premature nDOrtiNc suggestion OF an at
tempt among the Greeks The god great idea
10 be realized Is the complex thought OF things
worthy Of union worthily united. This divine
Thought Is shown elsewhere In nature IL
shines In marriage. Ravening beasts may herd
together, but their nature istoo base for mar
rage Innocent birds are permitted to COO
anu to mate aud feed their biriilings, but their
nature Is TOO weak for wedlock. Even bad men
ana bad women can find no Initiation into the
most sncIcd mysteries OF connubial love, Sonll
Ihese i've apart, even though they stay In the
same lair or nest or house, while those, and
1nly those, whom God has Joined together can
no man lnt asunder.
rms sumo principle prevails In the growth Of
,iyic life. There must he States before there
IAN pc United states. A States IL not herd,
mOb-it Is u community In which
rue individual liberty is secured BY common ;
aw maintained and administered against that
icentiousness which Is liberty's most yirulent
,nemy.
On this continent providentially the complex
problem Is gettingitself worked out for the BEN {
'lit OF the whole world. There were first Of all
brought from different localities,
laVing had different antecedents. These had !
lnc 10 consolidate into States. Nearnpss sIR- |
iests union. SO also does common interest. .
re are soon brought to the question how far |
NE can extend. The student Of the philosophy [
" history has seen nothing more clearly DEM I ,
nsirated than the impracticability Of uni Z
er-nl empire. From the earliest times, from
ne dhys OF the builders ON the plains of Shinni.